Outside of generating ideas, a surprising number of people – often senior executives – have admitted to me over the years they didn’t see a value in creativity beyond brainstorming.
One person in particular said she had zero interest in being creative, which was amazing to me because she was also one of the most creative thinkers I knew.
It’s not surprising. Being creative has historically described someone who’s subversive or rebellious. The creative thinker is the person who falls outside of the traditional, normal or accepted path.
For many cultures, creativity (often referred to as being different) was an unwelcome attribute for a variety of political and societal reasons.
I’ve also met a shocking amount of people who believe being creative is incompatible with being professional. (Maybe they’re talking about my beard or my hair, but that’s another article for another day.)
Creativity is the #1 skills needed for businesses to succeed
Times are changing, rapidly and happily.
I remember waaaaaay back in 2010, IBM released its landmark Global CEO Study that quantified for the first time chief executives worldwide believe creativity is the #1 skill needed by senior executives to successfully navigate an increasing complex world.
Now, many years later, people at every level of an organisation now see that solving business problems needs creative thinking skills.
Regardless of the industry or position, people use creativity beyond brainstorming whenever they want to change the status quo. It may be to simplify a process, create a new product or use, or be more efficient.
Without creativity, nothing would change. Ever.
Creativity is necessary beyond brainstorms
Here are four specific examples of how creativity is integral to skills beyond brainstorming.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning involves investigating the ways an organization might grow in a particular industry or category or transition into new areas. Researching and developing any possible plans of action demands creativity, particularly in ways which are new, different or unusual.
To paraphrase Albert Einstein’s famous quote, “You can’t expect new solutions from doing the same thing and over.”
One of my favorite books on strategy is The Mind of the Strategist: The Art of Japanese Business by Kenichi Ohmae.
Branding and Message Development
Every good corporate spokesperson knows this mantra, if not be heart, then by intuition: Know what you say, not Say what you know. Deciding what you’re going to say requires the speaker to use creative thinking to develop their messages, as well as adapt and position them differently depending upon the audience. (It’s called thinking on your feet.)
Similarly, branding or re-branding an organization or product means investigating all of its potential positions compared with existing or potential competition. Positioning a company or service means creating compelling messages which resonate with its target audiences, their influencers and the media.
Negotiation Skills
A good negotiator understands they need to have a range of options between what is needed versus what is wanted to be successful. Creativity allows the negotiator to develop those options in advance of the meeting with the other side. It’s preferable to brainstorm options in advance as it’s difficult to be creative during the intensity of the negotiation.
I’ve written more about creativity and negotiation, starting with .
Hands-down, the best book on negotiation remains Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury and Bruce Patton.
Risk and Crisis Management
A seasoned communicator considers all worst case scenarios for risk, issues and crisis management. The phrase ‘What if…?‘ is the same question used in many brainstorms. Good crisis plans think through every possible catastrophe in advance because – like negotiating – one’s creativity disintegrates in tense situations.
In their article Preparing for Evil for the Harvard Business Review (April 2003), authors Ian I. Mitroff and Murat C. Alpaslan outline how the best companies prevent and contain crisis and issues, often using creativity.
What other activities or events do you use your creativity at work? Please add your thoughts and comments below.
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